The international community is shocked by last night's violence in Amsterdam after Ajax Amsterdam's football match against Maccabi Tel Aviv, with images showing fans of the Israeli team being racially attacked by groups of people who appear to have had nothing to do with the sporting match. Israel's Foreign Minister goes to the Netherlands as there is fear of even two hostages! "We must do everything we can to protect Jews in America and around the world," said New York Attorney General Letitia James.
Eva Metis Koutoumanou
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said she was "outraged" by the attacks, while the United States reacted strongly. "We must do everything we can to protect Jews in America and around the world," "This antisemitism and violence must end now," said New York Attorney General Letitia James.
Dutch police said five people had been taken to hospital with injuries following clashes in the Dutch capital on Thursday night, while the number of confirmed arrestees rose to 62.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar is travelling to the Netherlands for an "urgent diplomatic visit", Israeli media report, following violence in central Amsterdam last night after the Ajax Amsterdam vs Maccabi Tel Aviv football match (ended 5-0) for the European Championship.
Earlier, Saar referred to the clashes in the centre of the Dutch city as a "blatant alarm for Europe and the world". "Freedom-loving countries, democracies, cannot allow unbridled hatred to roam the streets with impunity. As history has shown – what begins with persecution and violence against Jews never ends with Jews," he added.
Dutch police said five people were taken to hospital with injuries after the incidents, while the number of confirmed arrestees rose by five to 62.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said she was "outraged" by the "attacks", which she condemned "strongly", while communicating with the Dutch prime minister about the incident.
Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof said he would raise the issue at an informal meeting of the European Council in Budapest on Monday.
Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's announced plans to send military planes to the Netherlands to "rescue Maccabi supporters" have been canceled, Netanyahu's office said.
In a new statement, the office said that, after consultation with the Israeli military, it was decided that sending a "professional rescue mission to the Netherlands was not necessary."
Israeli citizens will return home via civilian airlines, it was announced.
"The State of Israel is doing everything for the safety of our citizens who were brutally attacked in the horrific anti-Semitic incident in Amsterdam," the statement added.
Israel's Ministry of National Security urged its citizens in Amsterdam to stay in their hotel rooms.
At the same time, Israelis were urged to avoid displaying Israeli and Jewish symbols in the streets, reminiscent of other, dark times of the previous century.
Israelis are advised to return home as soon as possible, but those who remain should download the Home Front Command app for updates.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog said the violence was "reminiscent of the attack on Israel by Hamas gunmen last year, as well as anti-Semitic attacks on European Jews in pogroms of previous centuries."
"We are horrified to see this morning the shocking images, as well as videos that since October 7 we had hoped to never see again: an anti-Semitic pogrom currently taking place against Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters and Israeli citizens in the heart of Amsterdam," he wrote in a message on social media platform X.
"Fans who went to watch a football match faced anti-Semitism and were attacked with unimaginable cruelty just because of their Jewishness and Israeliness," Israeli Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir said in a post on X.
Local police said they had made arrests after the match as pro-Palestinian protesters tried to reach the Johan Cruyff stadium, even though protests had been banned in the area.
Police said fans had left the stadium without incident, but clashes were reported overnight in the city centre.
Videos emerged on the social media of an organized attack against Israeli supporters while chants like "Free Palestine" were heard and Israelis, cut off from the rest of the Maccabi supporters, were laying on the ground being brutally beaten as dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters, with their faces covered, chased Israeli fans, beat and lynched them and then uploaded videos of the attacks online.
For their part, Maccabi supporters can be seen taking down Palestinian flags and anti-Israel banners, before the game.
Israel's foreign minister asked the Dutch government to help Israeli citizens reach the airport safely, he said after a phone call with his Dutch counterpart, Kaspar Veldkamp.
Anti-Muslim politician Geert Wilders, leader of the Dutch government's largest party, condemned the reported attacks in Amsterdam in a post on X.
"I'm ashamed that this happened in the Netherlands. Totally unacceptable," he said.
Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schooff said he was "horrified by anti-Semitic attacks on Israeli citizens", also saying "this is completely unacceptable".
In a phone call with Netanyahu, he assured him that "the perpetrators will be identified and prosecuted," in a statement to X.
A new "pogrom" against Jews, 86 years after Kristallnacht in Germany, is reported today by Israeli media, commenting on the savage all-night mob attack against Israeli riot police in Maccabi Tel Aviv, Amsterdam.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog was among high-ranking Israeli politicians who said the violence in Amsterdam was reminiscent of the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, as well as anti-Semitic attacks against European Jews in pogroms of past centuries.
"We see the horror this morning, the shocking images and videos that after October 7 we hoped we would never see again: an anti-Semitic pogrom is currently taking place against Maccabi Tel Aviv fans and Israeli citizens in the heart of Amsterdam," Herzog wrote in X.
Israel's ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, denounced the violence as a "pogrom" against Jews, as did far-right Dutch leader Geert Wilders.
"We have become the Gaza of Europe," Wilders wrote in X, adding that "Muslims with Palestinian flags are chasing Jews."
Prime Minister Netanyahu, in a call with his Dutch counterpart Dick Schooff, called it a "premeditated anti-Semitic attack against Israeli citizens" and called for increased security for the Jewish community in the Netherlands.
For his part, Shoff condemned the "unacceptable anti-Semitic attacks against Israelis."
International reactions
"Outraged" by last night's "abominable" attacks, von der Leyen said. In a post to X, the president of the European Commission "strongly condemned these unacceptable acts", stressing that "antisemitism has absolutely no place in Europe" and "we are determined to fight all forms of hatred.
The UN expressed concern over the incidents.
High Commissioner for Human Rights spokesman Jeremy Lawrence said: "We have seen these very worrying reports. No one should be discriminated against or subjected to violence on the basis of their national, religious, ethnic or other origin."
The images of violence committed in Amsterdam against fans of Israeli football club Maccabi Tel Aviv are "terrible and very shameful for us in Europe," German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said.
"Jews must be safe in Europe," the German Foreign Minister told X, condemning "violence against Jews" that "crosses all borders."
Steffen Seibert, Germany's ambassador to Israel, condemned the incidents, writing in X: "Chasing and beating Israeli fans is not an anti-war protest. It is criminal and unacceptable and we must all speak out against it. As a European, I am ashamed to see such scenes in one of our big cities."
French Minister for Europe Benjamin Haddad spoke of "intolerable" images of violence from "hunting Jews on European soil" and called for "no weakness, no timidity in the face of anti-Semitism".
The violent incidents in Amsterdam sparked a backlash in New York City that counts a large Jewish population.
New York Attorney General Letitia James reacted via X by calling the attacks on Jews in Amsterdam "deeply troubling and horrific."
"We must do everything we can to protect Jews in America and around the world," the New York attorney general said.
"This is exactly what the 'globalization of the intifada' is," Greenblatt wrote in X, adding that "a hate-filled mob" attacked Israelis who went to Amsterdam to enjoy a football match.
Jonathan Greenblatt, the head of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), which describes itself as the largest anti-hate group, called on the Dutch government to guarantee the safety of Israeli football fans, arrest and prosecute the perpetrators, and apologize for the violence.
